When I always thought of apocalypses in the past, and what I would do if one happened, I always saw myself in three types of situations.

The first was obviously getting lucky and being one of the first people to turn so I wouldn’t suffer, cause you know living in an apocalyptic wasteland filled with zombies and whatever other horrors would be created by the sickness, was bound to be bad for my mental health, let alone my physical health. That was the most likely of the situations, and probably the most painful depending on whether or not Zombie’s were devouring my flesh when I died or if I drank or ate something that contained the contagion in it. Either of those options were possible, though the first was a lot grimer and bloody then the first. Then again, the biggest thing involved and associated with being a Zombie was eating brains, which just by itself paints a pretty gruesome picture of this prospect of my possible futures.

The second option I had imagined during my free time was getting saved by a military convoy, like the ones you see in movies that drive through the cities in school buses with tanks trailing behind, that bring you to some secure bunker. I liked that scenario the most, though the chance of that happening was low, plus if there were more people there would be more chance of the safe house becoming a target to the zombies, but that might be overthinking it a bit.

The third situation was turning the housing complex I lived in into a bunker where we’d use Callum’s garden to make our own food, and my neighbor Fred’s iron welding skills to craft weapons. A few other neighbors would shoot birds out of the sky, and I’d use my skills as a somewhat scientist to try and create a cure. That situation was purely a fantasy though, as the odds of being able to secure my building, and getting everyone to work together was incredibly low, plus I’d need a Doctorate in medicine and possibly biochemistry to even begin to know how to stop something like a zombie pathogen.

Out of the many times I pictured myself living out these scenarios however, I’d never imagined that I’d be stuck at work during the apocalypse, trapped in a storage room with my neighbor, left with the mystery of what the heck happened to my co-workers during the time I was gone, and questions I couldn’t even begin to try to answer. I also never thought a zombie apocalypse would ever actually happen, so I guess that's one more thing I can scratch off my list of theories, that and time travel.

After too long of a moment of awkward silence filled the storage room, Callum cleared his throat and shifted on the spot. I realised I had been staring while I was lost in thought and I quickly looked away. Dang it, I inwardly swore, I’ve got to stop talking to myself in my head. I noted this as I leaned back against the shelf behind me, flinching a bit at the cold of the metal.

“So… where do you think your coworkers are?” Callum asked after a second, rubbing the back of his neck, which was going a bit red from the amount of times he’d rubbed it since he locked us in together.

“I’m not entirely sure.” I quipped back, as I stuck my hand in my pocket and wrapped my hand around the card inside, which I had grabbed from the lab. I frowned and took a breath, struggling to hold back my emotions before I removed my hand from my pocket and put my dark thoughts about my friend's location into the back of my mind.

“It seemed like they knew this was coming, so I’m assuming they went to some underground bunker or underground city.”

I bit my lip, as Callum thought this over for a second.

“If they were going someplace like that why wouldn’t they bring you?” Callum questioned, frowning.

This was a question that had recently begun to haunt my thoughts, especially as I played with the cuff off my sleeve. The fact that the only note they had left behind was an apology made it seem even likelier that they had just ditched me. Why would they do that though? I thought we had been good friends, and I had pretty much considered Jen my best friend. Maybe though it was all just a ruse. Maybe they had just acted that way so they could use my knowledge on human anatomy and it’s reaction to warping. Then again why choose me when there were tons of others who could write a thesis to trump mine, let alone actually finish it.

“Probably to save resources.” I mumbled in reply, as I stared at my feet and kicked at the floor. I didn’t look back up to see Callum’s reaction.

“Wouldn’t they need you to help them with their science stuff?” Callum continued, causing me to wince at his terminology.

“A Cytologist or Epidemiologist would be more useful to them than me.” I sighed, as I rested my head against the shelf behind me and stared at the ceiling. “Definitely not a half wit Physicist with a love for the human anatomy.”

“I don’t know half of what you just said, but I’m pretty sure I get the gist.”

“What about you?” I inquired, glancing at him. He was still frowning but not so much that his forehead wrinkled as it had before. “Do you know whether your friends and family are safe?”

“Well I don’t really have any friends,” He interjected, pausing for a moment as he looked at his feet. “Phone service is pretty much out so I can’t contact my aunt.”

“I’m sure she is fine.” I quickly inserted, as I could feel his worry coming off of him in waves. “Besides you left her with enough food to last her a week, right?”

“True.” He professed, smiling at a thought. “And I cleaned.”

I could see that he was struggling with the fact he couldn’t aid her at the moment, and unfortunately I didn’t really know how to comfort him past an awkward pat on the back, which I wasn’t sure he would appreciate. So I kept my hands to myself and instead tried to change the subject as I often did when put in these kinds of situations.

“So… What exactly is stored in all of these bins?” I quickly asked, as I pushed myself off the shelf and walked to the back of the room, where large rain barrel like containers huddled together. “Are they filled in water or...?

“I’m not sure.” Callum admitted, as he came to stand beside me. “They were here when I arrived so I assumed you would know.”

“I have no clue what’s inside.” I said in reply as I began surveying the bins for any clue. Callum observed me as I did this and I shrank a bit under his gaze, uncomfortable with the idea of being watched. “I can vouch though that they were not here 24 hours ago.”

“We should probably leave them alone then.” Callum decided after a moment, as I crouched down to inspect a label on the side of one of the containers. “Who knows what kind of experiment could be inside them, especially considering this is a science laboratory.”

“What kind of scientist would leave possibly dangerous experiments in a storage room with food?” I queried, looking away from what turned out to be a walmart price tag, to give him a questioning look. He shrugged but backed away from the containers.

“We’re in a zombie apocalypse. Who knows what’s possible.” Callum mused as he turned his back to me.

I had to admit, he was right. Any and all logic kinda got swept to the side the second the apocalypse began. I stood and gave one last look to the containers before walking back to the front of the room where Callum had his ear to the door. I frowned but said nothing, instead joining him in listening to the silence.

“I think the coast is clear.” He whispered, pulling back from the door. He reached out for the door handle as I tensed with anticipation.

“You ready?” He asked, glancing at me as I took a deep breath. I nodded in response and put my fists out in front of me.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Then with a click, Callum turned the knob and pushed open the door.